It was a raven. Ravens also have black beaks----crows (I'm told) have yellow beaks. I don't think we have any crows out West----least wise I've never seen one with a yellow beak.
* Don't anybody get your shorts in a bind ----I'm just telling what my daughter told me and she out ranks me education wise. I'd bet she is right though

Wouldn’t you love to have been there when these big boulders rolled off the hill?:

Would you mind sharing where this is and what roads they are? Great report by the way. I've been through the Mexican Hat area twice with my wife on our 990 and I love that area every time. Hope you got a steak off the swinging grill. Those are the best after a long day in the saddle looking at rock formations.

Fantastic report,,,and pics are WOW.....Thanks for taking us along with you......uncle jimmy

Thanks unclejimmy! Hope to ride with you soon!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deseret Rider

That was a raven.

Ok, I will concede that I may be calling two different birds the same thing. We still don't have anything like that around here!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratman

There is a pic.....

Ok, very cool. Thank you for sharing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bronco3738

Would you mind sharing where this is and what roads they are? Great report by the way. I've been through the Mexican Hat area twice with my wife on our 990 and I love that area every time. Hope you got a steak off the swinging grill. Those are the best after a long day in the saddle looking at rock formations.

My route leaves Escalante on Center Street, then turns into Proctor Road then turns into Hole in the Rock/Missing Canyon Road and eventually Smokey Mountain Road. When I get to my office I'll copy the route off my netbook and post it up.

When I arrived in Boulder City at about 8:30, I had three things on my mind; well, actually four: a room, a meal and a couple of beers. I found the first at the Boulder Inn and Suites. I had seen a few restaurants on the way in close to the hotel, so, I decided to stop by the convenient bar attached to the hotel for a couple of beers and maybe get the lowdown on where to eat. I explained to the bartender that I really had a hankering for pizza and thought that I had seen a pizza place close by. She said that indeed Tony’s Pizza was a great pizza joint and she even offered to make an order for me. However, by the time all of this took place, they had stopped delivering.

She then suggested a Thai restaurant and even had a menu! Perfect! I had quickly made friends with an English gentleman, Steve, and he suggested that he might be interested in ordering from there too, so, that’s what we did. After a shower, I made my way back to the bar where our food was waiting! Had a great evening talking with Steve who was making his second trip around the southwest and was having a blast! What a great night! Sorry, I didn’t get any pictures of the event! The hotel was fairly nice and reasonable and the staff was excellent.
When securing the room, I had decided that I would stay two nights since I wanted to attempt to catch up with my cousin and a friend in Las Vegas and see the Hoover Dam and I needed to wash clothes again.

The next morning after making some phone calls, I made my way for a late breakfast/early lunch at Tony’s Pizza since I missed it the night before:

The pizza was a little greasy, but very good. Made for a nice dinner too!

After my meal, I made my way to the Hoover Dam!

Lake Mead:

I knew I was close to the Dam the night before, but didn’t realize when I crossed this bridge with the “High Wind Advisory Next 1 mile” sign that I was passing right by it!:

View of the Dam under the bridge:
I rode over the Dam, parked a little past it, and walked across the Dam.

These towers are the intakes that draw water into the hydroelectric plant:

The diversion tunnels on either side of the Dam were constructed to divert the Colorado River so that the Dam itself could be built. Now, they are overflow tunnels in case the water rises above 27 feet. The tunnels are 50 feet in diameter and about 4,000 feet long:

I understand from friends that at one time, one could ride in a boat all the way or nearly all the way to the Dam. Since 9/11 it’s been roped off.:

The Dam:

The bridge:
The towers:

A fish:

Note the two rectangular shapes about halfway from the top of the Dam; those are ventilation louvers:

After finding out that the “tour” of the Dam included getting to go deep into the structure, I immediately paid my fee! Awesome! And it’s nice and cool in there!:

Remember the ventilation louver? This is the tunnel leading to it and a picture shot between the blades of the louver!:

In case of elevator failure, these are the stair leading up or down. It’s about 400 feet nearly straight up!:

One can park at the foot of the bridge and make a short hike up the stairs to the pedestrian walkway for pictures. Pictures of the Dam from the new bridge:

The Hoover Dam is one impressive piece of construction. Its’ construction was timely for a lot of Americans too since it occurred during the Great Depression. The Dam was constructed by workers from all fifty states! One sort of misleading item our tour guide talked about was that the Dam was built in “blocks”; that’s sort of true, but not in the sense that these “blocks” were lifted and set in place. The entire Dam is poured-in-place concrete and the “blocks” that he referred to are just how the forms were placed on top of concrete that had already been poured; each section was poured in a staggered fashion. The point is that there was concern about how much the cold joints (the joint formed between two separate pours of concrete) would expand and contract. It turned out to not be an issue, but I saw movement indicators in the tunnel, although I’m not sure if they are monitoring the movement today.

I am aware that it gets really hot out there, but it was pretty damn hot that day. I didn’t spend a lot of time exploring after the Dam since I was only in tennis shoes and jeans and my bike was spewing heat from all points on to my legs and my feet. It didn’t help to stick my feet out because of the heat from the road! I had plenty of things to do anyway: wash clothes, return phone calls and make routes. My new bartender friend was kind enough to let me sneak a couple beers out of the bar, since I was staying on the property after all, and take care of my business.

I made plans to meet my cousin in Las Vegas for breakfast the next morning, so, I had to make a diversion to my original plan. Thus ends Day 9.

My route leaves Escalante on Center Street, then turns into Proctor Road then turns into Hole in the Rock/Missing Canyon Road and eventually Smokey Mountain Road.

I bet you consider going down to 'Hole In the Rock'. That was inspiring to me, thinking what those Mormons went thru to get across the Co River to their new colony.
Just Imagine, they had to blast and hammer a slot canyon out wide enough to get a wagon thru for a 100 yards or so at about a 20 Degree angle down to the river. It was so steep that a wagon would slid even if all four wheels were tied off.
They took the horses off the wagons and tied the wheels so they wouldn't turn, then got a dozen guy behind the wagon with ropes tied to the wagon, and then let it slid down to the river with the guys holding it back from breaking loose and going too fast.
....awesome.....

I bet you consider going down to 'Hole In the Rock'. That was inspiring to me, thinking what those Mormons went thru to get across the Co River to their new colony.
Just Imagine, they had to blast and hammer a slot canyon out wide enough to get a wagon thru for a 100 yards or so at about a 20 Degree angle down to the river. It was so steep that a wagon would slid even if all four wheels were tied off.
They took the horses off the wagons and tied the wheels so they wouldn't turn, then got a dozen guy behind the wagon with ropes tied to the wagon, and then let it slid down to the river with the guys holding it back from breaking loose and going too fast.
....awesome.....

It's great to see your pictures thru there, makes me want to go back.

Alas, I did not make it there. I had to leave something for a future trip!

I woke up on this day excited to see my cousin. The last time I saw him was at our grandmothers’ funeral in 2002. We agreed to meet at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Some pictures on the way in:

Good to see you mang!

After a very pleasant breakfast with cuz, I jetted out of LV and headed toward Toroweap Point on the North Rim. I had decided I would ride Highway 167 around Lake Mead and then slab it to St. George and eventually make my way to Honeymoon Trail which would intersect with the road to Toroweap. My plan was to camp at Toroweap.

Highway 167 was a pleasant, albeit hot, ride on sweepy roads:

I believe this is a Sherman tank somewhere near Overton, NV:

I-15:

While fueling in St. George, a guy approached me and asked if I was on ADVrider. After making introductions, he asked about where I had been and where I was going. Once I showed my planned route, he very solemnly explained that given the loaded condition of my bike and my status as a singular rider, I should very strongly reconsider travelling Honeymoon Trail. He explained that there was tons of deep sand and if I attempted to travel that way I should be prepared for it. He pointed me to a road that was much smoother and one that was more likely to have much less deep sand and strongly suggested that I take that route instead. Having caused my warning bells to sound, I assured him that I would take his advice and pass Honeymoon Trail. He even gave me a detailed map of Nevada trails and said I should consider coming back and riding out that way, on a lighter bike of course. I believe his forum name is Tricky2, but I haven’t yet been able to find him in the members list. So, Tricky2, if you happen to see this, I want you to know that I took your advice and I really appreciate you helping me with the route and I hope we get to ride together someday!!!!!

New route planned, I headed out to CR-5 out of Colorado City:

CR-5 that goes all the way to Toroweap. I believe some of this route may be called Mt. Trumbull Road:

Quick hydration break; a couple of pics looking back at Colorado City:

This road is just fine:

The last fifteen miles or so of the road to Toroweap are worse than the first forty or so, but very rideable:

The last six or eight miles, the road deteriorates, but it’s really not that bad. I don’t have any pictures of the worst stuff, but there is only one small uphill that’s pretty rutted up, just a little sand and the rest is just a bit rocky. Notice the sign says “Tuweep” and yet the mileage sign from the pics above says “Toroweap.”:

A plow or grader thingy:

The road continues all the way around this point:

I passed the campground and went straight to the lookout:

I took several pictures of myself trying to get the river in the background; I’ll only subject you to my ugly mug with my best attempt:
More Canyon:

The campground is first come first serve. I believe there are ten or eleven spots, the eleventh being reserved for large parties. By the time I arrived, there were about six separate groups that had dropped anchor. I rode around a cool looking point and ran into two park rangers talking with a couple of campers. After a few minutes of conversation, I learned that the better spots to camp are near the rocky outcropping since the wind tended to blow pretty steadily there. This was the last spot near the rock:

Unfortunately, this spot was very near a large, loud group. It wasn’t ideal, but I made the best of it. This was worth dragging the Kermit chair along:

This helped smooth things out:

I finished my drink, made my dinner and watched the sun go down:

It was this night that I had finally made the decision that it was time to start winding this adventure down. Since I had read about Toroweap and Point Sublime from some of the Ride Reports, I knew that I still wanted to see Point Sublime, but that was very likely going to be the pinnacle of the trip. Even though I really didn’t want to go, didn’t want to make my way back to the drudgery of the life I lead, I missed my family and was a little homesick. I went to bed that night feeling like I had consumed a good part of what the Grand Canyon had to offer. I had ridden through some of the most beautiful country, met some great people and even though I don’t have to be on the gnarliest dirt roads all the time, I had challenged myself, made mistakes, and overcome enough obstacles to feel like I wasn’t always taking the easiest path. This had indeed turned out to be a great trip. Even though my neighbors were still at it when I went to bed, I slept the most sound sleep since I started this trip.

Wow! These are fabulous pictures and a very detailed report! Looks like you had a great ride.. you're a pretty lucky dude to have gotten to experience that!! (also a REALLY talented photographer!) Thanks so much for sharing!!

The camera is still alive after that "ugly mug" picture----bet it was quite a shock for it though. Glad it survived cause I really enjoyed your report and pictures and will be looking forward to your next one.